Diamond In The Rough
by Phoenix.and.Skye
Summary: A girl comes to the Xavier mansion in search of friends and a proper family. She falls in love, she makes friends and even finds her cousin...but when the Brotherhood send Sabretooth to recruit her, things get out of hand. Rating might go up. R & R please
1. Sphinx

**Unlucky in Love**

**Skye: All other stories will be updated ASAP but writer's block is killing us. Plus, my good friend fell and broke her leg…PWND! So she's in hospital for a few days.**

**Full Summary: **Anyone ever wonder why Logan is so unlucky when it comes to love? So have we, but maybe this girl is different…just maybe.  
Hybrid is a lone eighteen year old who seeks shelter at the Xavier institute. But the demons of her past come back to haunt her and who is the one who helps them go away? But still…the title IS "Unlucky in Love"

Rating: T/M…that depends on how YOU would rate it.  
Contains: swearing, "scenes of a sexual nature", death, blood…and an OC!

**Chapter 1: Sphinx**

Logan drove the four-by-four over a bumpy road and chuckled darkly to himself; Scott would NOT be happy if Logan returned to the mansion with Scott's trashed vehicle…or rather, without. But still, ever guy needed to borrow his friend/enemy's four-by-four once in a while without asking, simply to piss him off. And that was something Logan was good at: pissing people off. Scott mostly – because he was so easily pissed off by Logan – but people in general? Oh yeah…

Anyway, as he turned a corner and onto a smooth road, he caught sight of a girl up ahead. She looked short – probably about 5' 1" or 2" – and had dark brown hair that fell to just below her shoulders, or at least that was what he could tell: the wind was throwing her hair around like an out of control bull in the Spanish bullrings. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans that looked too big for her, tattered plimsolls and a beige cardigan which fell just under her butt. She had an earthy green bag slung over her shoulder and her thumb was sticking outwards.

He saw a couple of cars zoom past her, so he stopped, and so did she.

Her face was perfectly oval and her skin pale, although there were some freckles flecking her nose and cheeks. Her eyes were close set (look it up on Google images!!), wide and olive-green. Her eyebrows seemed perfectly even and just the right size (not like those girls who over pluck and have this thin line for an eyebrow). Her nose was small and cute and her lips were pale, ever-so-slightly thinner than average. She has slight dark circles under her eyes and was quite skinny, although he would have admitted that she did have a nice bust and looked about sixteen.

She was pretty…well pretty, but she had two transparent tear tracks running down her face and from her eyes.

"Need a lift, kid?" he asked.

She hesitated.

"I don't bite," he laughed, trying to smile reassuringly. It must have worked because she got into the car. He couldn't really blame her for hesitating; she probably thought her was some rapist on the hunt.

He drove a little way before finally breaking the silence.

"So, where you headed?"

She waited for a few long seconds before replying vaguely, "Away."

He chuckled.

"Anywhere specific? I need to know where to drive, you know," he said.

"New York."

"Somewhere specifically in New York?"

"Yes."

Her answers were so vague, that it pissed him right off to the very core of his existence. He lost his patience.

"So, tell me!" he yelled.

She smirked slightly, despite the mood he sensed around her.

"Westchester."

"Hmm, me too," he said, then attempted to keep conversation and into something a little more than the fact that they were both heading to Westchester. "So, where you from?"

"Ohio. You?"

He was pleased that she was keeping the conversation going now.

"Canada…I guess."

"You think?" she asked, sarcasm in her voice.

"Yeah: I can't remember much about my past. I want to, though," he added.

She snorted.

"I wish I could forget mine."

He didn't ask why nor did her really want to know. From her tone of voice, he could tell it was something unpleasant.

"So, why are you coming all the way out to Westchester?"

"To get away. I want friends and a real family."

"Westchester is a good place to look."

"Why?"

He laughed and didn't reply to her question.

"So, what's your name?"

She hesitated again.

"Hybrid."

He furrowed his brow. He'd heard some strange names before then but THIS was just…weird. Had her parents been drunk when they named her?

"What kind of a name is that?"

She shrugged. "I dunno."

"You a mutant?"

"I-I-"

"Hey," he said, knowing instantly that she was indeed a mutant. He held up his fist and extended his claws. Then he made a small cut on his finger which healed instantly. "Me too." He pulled the claws back in.

"Oh," she said nervously. He could tell that his claws had frightened her a little and she changed the subject back to names. "Well, it's not really Hybrid. It's Elska…or Ellie."

"What does that mean?"

"It's Icelandic for 'love'," she answered the questioning look on his face. "My mother was Icelandic."

He noticed the use of past tense and reverted back to names.

"Got a last name?"

She shrugged. "What's yours?"

"Wolverine…well, it's not really Wolverine. It's Logan No Name."

She laughed at the use of her own words and said, "Well, Mr. No Name, how old are you?"

"Somewhere between twenty and a hundred. I don't age the same as others do. You?"

"Nineteen as of…" she glanced at the dashboard. "…five hours ago."

She was older than she looked.

"Oh, happy birthday."

They remained silent for a while until Logan spoke again.

"So, now that we know more about each other, you wanna tell me why New York?"

"I'm looking for someone…Xavier, I think his name is."

Logan smiled.

"That's his name. You looking for the 'School for Gifted Youngsters'?"

"Exactly. How did you know?"

"I live there…sort of."

She smiled and the mood lightened.

However, it didn't last; in the few seconds that followed, everything turned to total panic. Something swept in front of the car and Logan swerved. The car veered off the road and down a hill. It rolled over and crashed into trees. He didn't hear Elska scream once although he sensed her panic. The car smashed into a tree and he felt his head smash off the windshield. Things went red, then black.

When he opened his eyes, Elska was standing in front of him, facing away. Now he could see why her mutant name was 'Hybrid'. She was slightly hunched forwards, her arms tense. The skin which was visible wasn't skin at all. It was silvery-blue fur, fine and sleek. She had removed her cardigan and white t-shirt and now he could see why. Two long, feathered wings were producing out of her back, just above her bra. A long snake tail was curling around her right leg and as his eyes travelled down, he saw that she had claws on her hands and feet: she had removed her shoes.

He could smell blood but it wasn't his or hers. He was sure he recognised it but it wasn't that important at the time. He sat up and grimaced as his broken arm rightened itself with a loud crack. Elska turned around and he had to repress a gasp. Her face had changed. The whites and irises of her eyes were lime green and her pupils were mere slits. The canines in her mouth – top and bottom – were elongated and razor-sharp. Her freckles were gone and her face was every girls dream, he guessed. Totally tanned but natural. It was terrible beauty to look at, and it unnerved him a little.

"Are you OK?" she asked.

He blinked.

"Well , now I understand why you call yourself Hybrid."

"Oh, sorry. I know it's kind of…unnerving."

She closed her eyes and tensed her forehead (is that even POSSIBLE?) as if concentrating really hard on trying to remember something. Within a few short seconds, the fur had retracted, so had the tail, claws, teeth and wings. Her eyes returned to normal and so did her face. It looked painful and she grunted as it happened.

But he wasn't concentrating on that (weird, yes) he was staring at her body. It was beautiful. Like snow untouched. Or the single, strong red rose in the midst of chaos and destruction.

Her face went red.

"Don't look at me."

He turned around, forgetting that he had only just met her.

"What was that?" he asked.

"One of my many talents…I call her Sphinx."

**Skye: I know it's boring now, but it'll get better and an unexpected relationship. Please review! xx**


	2. This One Is Different

**Skye: Chapter two is quite short so the next one should be up today. Oh, did I forget to mention, because this is a movie fan fiction, we're going for the Hugh Jackman, 6' 3" height. **

**Chapter 2: This One Is Different**

"Charmed," Logan said. "How are you with walking?"

"One of my specialities," Elska said.

They both turned around and she was now fully clothed

Logan smiled and started up the steep hill which they had just tumbled down. As he pushed through the trees, he thought about what Scott's reaction would be when he told him that he had smashed his four-by-four to pieces. It would be something he hoped that someone would record.

He also thought about Elska. She seemed like she was happy but he knew that she was hiding something in there. Abusive father or abusive boyfriend? He couldn't really decide and he made a mental note to ask her in a few weeks time (assuming, of course, that she stuck around). And the thought was still in his head that she was probably still quite wary of him.

"How far is it?" she asked as they came to the top of the hill and started along the road.

"Only a few miles," he said. "What's that?" he asked, catching sight of a thin red line on her wrist.

"Nothing," she said quickly.

He wasn't stupid. He knew it wasn't nothing, but he didn't question her about it.

He could tell that he had upset her, but still, he didn't doubt that anyone else would have asked her. The cut could have been obtained from whatever she had seemed to be defending him against, but her reaction had been too hasty.

He had to hand it to her, though. The walk was a long one and she hadn't complained once: not about the wind, the cold, the pain she was probably feeling from the crash. She didn't moan about the journey taking too long or her aching legs. He guessed that she couldn't have had it easy in Ohio.

She stumbled a little. He caught her before she hit the ground.

"Are you OK?"

She laughed a little. "Yeah."

"Are your legs OK?"

"I've been walking for a long time, Logan and I haven't eaten much. I guess I'm just a little tired or something," she shrugged.

Right then, she yawned and buckled a little. He held her up.

"I'll carry you," he said, trying to be helpful.

"That's not-"

He swept his left arm under her knees and picked her up. She was really small in his arms. She didn't say anything and he walked on. After about five minutes, he saw that she had fallen asleep. He laughed and shook his head a little, yet he couldn't understand why he liked this girl so much.

After about twenty minutes, they had arrived at the mansion and Elska was awake. He set her down on her feet.

"Thank you."

He led her inside. Xavier probably sensed him come in and wheeled out from the dining room.

"I'm sure Scott will be quite unhappy to learn that you destroyed his car, Logan. Welcome back." He turned to Elska. "And Hybrid, I believe?"

"Elska…or Ellie," she smiled. "I take it that you're Professor Xavier?"

He nodded and shook her hand. No one said anything for a few minutes so Logan assumed that Xavier was reading her mind.

"I understand," Xavier said aloud. "You can share a room with Rogue. I am sure she will be happy to meet you. Upstairs, to the left and then it's the third door on the right."

Elska thanked him and secured her bag more tightly over her shoulder, then walked away from him.

"Not to be…disrespectful to Marie or anything, professor," Logan said. "But since when is Rogue happy to meet other people?"

Xavier smiled.

"This one is different, Logan…trust me."

**Skye: Next chapter should be up in an hour or two. Please review and I promise it will get better! So please be patient! **


	3. New Friend, Old Friend

**Skye: Chapter 3. Here is the unexpected relationship. And it's NOT Rogue and Elska!**

**Chapter 3: New Friend, Old Friend**

Elska sat down on the bed that looked like no one slept in it.

The professor had told her through his mind-reading telepathy thing that dinner would be a further twenty minutes although her new roommate Rogue would only be about ten. She was hungry, but she was going to wait until everyone had finished eating then grab something.

So she sat in thought.

Logan had seemed nice, and she got a light aura from him, but it was concealing things that had happened in the past…things which he couldn't remember. Nevertheless, she liked him. He knew when to stop talking, even though he didn't exactly know what to say – it was a start she guessed. He had a very sarcastic sense of humour which was almost annoying but she loved it. And he had been nice enough to stop and give her a lift when everyone else had drive past her without a second glance. He had even carried her when she couldn't walk. Then there was his mutation: she had been quite scared when she saw it but Logan seemed totally at ease with hers, not that he should be. Because hers was just as destructive as his.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang. She jerked up. A girl who was quite a few inches taller than her (but then again, most people WERE taller than her) with brown hair and two white streaks at the front. Her eyes were deep brown and her skin was pale, although most of it was covered.

"Hi," Elska said, standing up. "You must be Marie?"

"Rogue," she replied coldly. "Are you Hybrid?"

"Elska, or Ellie," she said as lightly as she could. "Was dinner any good?"

"It was…OK, I guess?" Rogue said uncertainly. "Listen, I might as well be straight with you: there's no point in being my friend because you can't touch me. If you do, I absorb your memories, you take some of mine. I 'borrow' your powers and then you might die."

Elska shook her head.

"I'm different."

She approached Rogue and touched her shoulder. She felt a little dizzy, as if a magnetic force was pulling and pushing their minds. Rogue's power was strong but her's was stronger. The sensation quickly passed as Elska's skin adapted.

Rogue gasped.

"You…you can touch me…"

"Oh, well done," Elska said sarcastically.

Rogue screamed then leapt at Elska. They hugged tightly and laughed. After a few seconds, Logan kicked the door open, claws out and yelling something about 'attacks'.

"Is everything OK, Logan?" Rogue asked.

"Apparently so!" he growled angrily. "Why did you scream?"

Elska and Rogue looked at each other. Friendship bloomed instantly between them and they laughed loudly.

"Logan, it's something girls do to-"

"-to emphasize their excitement of a recent event," Elska finished for her.

Logan went slightly pink, then stormed away. Rogue and Elska glanced at each other and laughed again.

It had been a long time since Elska had had a real friend, particularly a girl who she could be herself with.

Rogue opened her mouth to say something, but a loud rumbling stopped her. A head appeared on Rogues wall and slowly and entire body phased through the wall and chest of drawers.

"Oh, you must be the new girl. I'm Kitty. Now hurry up, Rogue! There's a fight on the basketball court! Bobby versus John!"

Kitty grabbed hold of their wrists and pulled them through the wall then the crowd. Rogue looked extremely uncomfortable. And Elska felt it. It was as if some skin-tight material was compressing her as she passed through other people.

She wasn't much of a fight person but she recognised the name…form somewhere.

When she stopped trying to remember who he was, she found herself at the front of a crowd and looking onto two boys. One was on the ground and he was spitting feeble wisps of frost at the other who was standing above him, fire blazing out of his hands.

"That's Bobby and John," Kitty yelled over the screams of 'Fight, fight!'. "Or Iceman and Pyro."

"Isn't this a school? Where are the teachers?"

"Probably on their way," Kitty said.

"John, no!" Rogue screamed.

Elska looked up and then it happened. She remembered and she couldn't understand why she hadn't before then…or why she intervened.

John raised his hand, a fireball ready. Bobby cowered.

"John, no!" she shouted.

Elska wrapped her hand around his wrist and knocked it to the side. The fireball flew away and eventually hit the ground.

Everyone was silent. A gap appeared in the crowd and Xavier wheeled through, followed by Logan, a man with sunglasses on, grasping the hand of a woman with red hair and bringing up the rear was a woman with dark skin and white hair.

"Ellie?" John asked, looking anguished.

"You said you were going to stop this!"

"Elska, I can see you have this under control, however," Xavier looked up at John. "My office, now."

Elska let go of her cousins arm.

**Skye: Told ya! ;) please review!**


	4. Getting To Know Her

**Skye: Back again…lol. Chapter 4. Also, this is set between X1 and X2 but I'm still going with the Ellen Page Kitty Pryde. Láska is dedicated to our friend PaigeyLou, whose 11 year old sister killed herself on the 5****th**** July 2009. Her name was Sarah. Paige is 14 now and she's still upset about it. If you guys have problems, I would PM her. She's amazing to talk to. She always seems to know what to say. What Logan thinks about Láska is actually what Paige felt and still feels now. **

**Chapter 4: Getting To Know Her**

"So, John is your cousin?" Kitty asked her for the millionth time.

"Is there something wrong with your brain that whenever I say 'yes', you have to ask the question over again?"

Rogue laughed.

The three of them were sitting in the garden on a bench and the sun was setting. John had been put in detention for nearly killing Bobby and Bobby was in the infirmary, his wounds being treated by Dr. Jean Grey.

Elska had talked with Xavier (while having something to eat) and they had decided that she was too old to participate in lessons but hadn't learnt enough to teach the children, so she would have private sessions with him to help her master her powers. She was also to attend the weekly danger room sessions with either, Logan, Storm or Scott.

"Yes, Kitty, John is my cousin," she said.

"So, have you met his family? He says that they're nice people," Kitty persisted.

Elska felt her stomach drop. Their families were certainly not nice people, but she understood why John would want to pretend that they were.

"I've met them, yeah," she said absently.

"And? How are they?"

"What's with all these questions?!" Elska shouted. Her outburst had startled even herself. She stood up. "I'm going inside."

She felt Kitty's eyes drill into the back of her skull.

"Elska-"

"Forget it, Rogue," she said. In truth, she had had no idea what Rogue was about to say, but she didn't want her following her. And if she was going to ask if she was OK? That would have been crap. Because Elska would say 'Yes' but it would have been lying…and she was sick of telling everyone she was fine when she wasn't.

She found a deserted common room with a small TV in it and a couple of sofas, so she settled herself in one and stared at the wall.

_Elska, you cannot blame your friends. They don't know and John would never tell them._

_But professor, I'm tired of living like this. _

_Then perhaps you SHOULD tell them. Let them understand, and if not, you should at least tell Logan._

_Why?_

_Because he wants to know what's wrong and he's standing in the doorway._

Elska felt the light weight in her head lift as the professor stopped reading her and she jerked around to face Logan. She looked away quickly again. Wasn't the floor an interesting one?

"I want to know what's wrong," he said flatly. "I want to know what that cut on your wrist is, I want to know why you just freaked out at Kitty and Rogue."

The sofa bounced her upwards as he sat next to her. She looked in the opposite direction.

"You can trust me, kid," he said.

Then she broke. He had called her 'kid' so endearingly, with care and kindness. She had to tell him. She had to tell someone. Anyone. And Logan was there to listen, and as she began, she realised that he would always be there to listen.

Tears flushed from her eyes and she turned around to face him. He pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her.

"You wanna know what's wrong?" she asked. "It's everything."

And so she began. She told him everything.

"My dad and my older brothers weren't the nicest of people. And my mom died when I was ten. After that, things got bad. My dad and brothers would do stuff to me and my sister, Láska. Then when I was thirteen, my sister killed herself. She was only eleven."

Elska sobbed.

"What did she look like?"

"Well…she had blonde hair…only it wasn't all blonde, it was like it was mousy brown underneath. And she had baby blue eyes and all these freckles. She was so pretty. But she couldn't handle it and she hanged herself. She talked to me about it. I didn't take her seriously…but at least she's safe now. But I loved her so much! If I could do anything in the world, I would bring her back…whatever it took.

So my brothers and father just got worse after that. I thought about killing myself too…but I couldn't. I was too scared. Then when I was fifteen…my oldest brother…he…"

"I understand," Logan said, sounding totally disgusted.

"I was pregnant…but they told me to get an abortion. I said no so they forced me to have a miscarriage. And it just kept on going on…and the only person I could talk to was John. His parents were the same…abusive, always drunk. But none of them touched him. He did his best…but eventually, my dad banned him from seeing me. So I cut myself…then today, I decided I'd had enough. And I ran away…and now I'm here and…"

She subsided into sobs. Logan massaged her back gently but she couldn't believe herself. She had just revealed everything to a total stranger…and she wondered if she would regret it.

* * *

Logan couldn't believe it. The poor girl had been through so much. It sounded as though she had never had that chance to be a normal teenager. Her mother had died when she was young, then three years later, her little sister had killed herself. He couldn't imagine how that must have felt, maybe like her soul had been ripped apart, like she had lost a part of herself in losing her sister. Maybe, she felt as if her sister had been missing for a while, and that if she reached out hard enough, Láska would come back. Maybe she felt angry, regretful, guilty. Maybe her heart ached with sorrow.

Logan wondered what this eleven year old was thinking when she committed such an act. Her life had been difficult, yes, but had she even thought about Elska?

"Sounds like you've had it rough," he said, not knowing what else to say. But then it came to him. "But I want you to know that I'm always here for you. Everyone is."

She gave him a watery smile and sat up.

"Thanks…it's just…I've never spoken about it properly before. And when Kitty was asking me all those questions…I just-"

He put a finger on her mouth.

"You don't have to explain it."

He stood up and helped her to her feet.

"Thanks for this, Logan…I don't know what I'd-"

He hugged her then released her.

"You should go to bed, you'll be tired."

She smiled to him thankfully and he ruffled her hair. He stared at her as she left and he couldn't help but think what a strong girl she was.

_Thank you, Logan._

_**Whatever, professor. When you said, find out what she's hiding, I didn't think it would be something like that.**_

_Neither did I, Logan, neither did I. _

**Skye: I know…how depressing am I? Anyway, review and I'll update sooner!**


	5. Your Worst Nightmare

**Skye: We're going for the Liev Schreiber Sabretooth. Let's just imagine that he didn't die in X1.**

**Chapter 5: You're Worst Nightmare**

Logan discovered several things about Elska over the week that followed. He discovered that she was great in the danger room, as if she had natural reflexes. The only downside was that her powers didn't always work. It seemed that they didn't work when she was around the amethyst crystal. He couldn't even remember how they had come to find that out, but it was a serious flaw. And they never did find out why. He also discovered that she was great with kids. She loved them like she loved...the sun or something. It appeared that the little nine-year-old Siryn was very attached to Elska. Elska spent most of her time during the day playing with the children who finished lessons earlier than the teenagers.  
He supposed that playing with the children was a way for her to have the childhood games in the playground that she wasn't allowed to have. And even after the Danger Room session gone wrong when she broke her ribs, she still managed to play hopscotch and skipping and running games with them.  
And the Danger Room session HAD looked pretty painful, even by Logan's standards.

_Logan walked towards Storm and noted the kids lined up. Kitty, Rogue, Elska, and Colossus. He stopped beside Storm and turned to face them.  
"So, today's session is going to be hand-to-hand practice," Logan said. "Storm and I will walk around you all to see how you're doing. I want offence and defence from all of you. Rogue and Kitty and Colossus and Elska. Go."  
He watched Elska and Colossus for the first few seconds then Kitty and Rogue who were doing terribly compared to what they usually did. But Storm was attending to them. So he went over to coach Elska and Colossus.  
"Elska, when you're kicking, be careful that he doesn't grab your ankle and knock you over," Logan whispered.  
Elska took his advice on board and didn't kick from then on. He watched her turn sharply and stumble. It was like she had tripped over her own feet and she seemed to fall in slow motion. That was probably why it was so funny. Because, really? What kind of idiot doesn't put their hands out to stop themselves from falling? She wobbled around a bit then crashed to the ground. She uttered a loud, quick "OW!" and just kind of sat there._

Logan had laughed so hard and even chuckled now when he thought about it. But once he realised that there was an instant bruise on the left-hand side of her rib cage, he got her to the infirmary. She had had to stay there for a week but now she was up and about, although he noticed her wince if she jumped too hard.

But now he was sitting on a bench in the children's playground watching Elska play skipping games with some of the younger ones.

She was so pretty. Everything about her was, her personality included. It didn't matter that she'd had a violent past, it hadn't affected _her _although she had the emotional scars which weren't fully closed.

She caught him looking and whispered something to one of the kids, then came over and sat next to him.

"What were you staring at?" she asked playfully.

"Nothing," he said vaguely. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Yeah, I suppose," she said. "Hey, if anyone wonders where I've gone, tell them I've gone out to buy something for Kitty's birthday?"

"That depends," Logan said. "Are you actually going to do that?"

"Funnily enough," she said. "Bye."

"See ya," Logan said.

She had trouble getting to her feet and Logan realised that her ribs probably weren't feeling all that better. She bent down and hugged him then did something she'd never done before and kissed him on the cheek. She laughed when she saw his face afterwards, but he couldn't understand what was funny about it.

* * *

Elska made her way into the huge garage. There were several shiny cars and various vehicles in there but the one she'd been told she could have was a rusty old Chevy truck. She wasn't too bothered because, although she was able to drive and had learned, she had never been allowed to drove one when living with her father and brothers.

She got into it and took a few minutes to start it up: it kept dying on her, not from lack of gas, but probably because it was so old.

She drove into the nearest town, not even knowing the name of the place, and parked at the side of the road. There was hardly anyone around so she guessed that they were all at work. She made her way up the street, dropping spare change into the cup that a homeless man was holding. (**I know, right? Where did she get the money?) **

She walked past some coffee shops, the sun hot on her face. Then it happened. Something grabbed her arm and pulled her into the alley beside her. She opened her mouth to scream, but whatever it was faced her body away, put an arm around her waist and arms and covered her mouth. She thrashed around and attempted to bite whatever was holding her. Her ribs started throbbing but she didn't care. Something was pulling her around the corner in to the back of the alley, where no one could see them.

Then it suddenly pushed her to the ground, hand still covering her mouth and jumped on top of her. She screamed from under his hand and thrashed around more.

"If you stay still, be quiet and be a good girl, I won't do what you don't want me to," a raspy voice said.

She stopped struggling but she couldn't help her body shaking. And her ribs were thumping in pain. She felt something wet on her elbow. The man, as she discovered he was, took in a deep breath, smelling the air. He touched her elbow gently although his hands were rough. He lifted his hand and she saw scarlet blood on his fingers. She must have cut herself when he pushed her down. The man licked his fingers, where her blood was and she wanted to be sick.

He removed his hand from her face, but she didn't dare try to get away.

"Who-Who are you?" her voice shook.

"You're worst nightmare," he hissed, moving his face closer. It was the man – thing – from when Logan had crashed the car. "Sabretooth…but you can call me Victor."

She concentrated with all her might on transforming. She imagined the Wyvern, the long tail and neck, scales and wings and horns, but nothing happened. Sabretooth noticed this and pulled out a tiny cube of amethyst from his pocket.

"I have my ways of finding things out, Ellie," he said.

She didn't like the way he had said her name. And she was frightened. She wanted to call for Logan, but he would never hear her. Sabretooth suddenly cupped her face and seemed to be pushing quite hard on the back of her ear, but she didn't dare put her hand up to see what it was.

"What do you want?"

"You, Ellie," he said. "And I also want you to join the Brotherhood, but mostly I want you…and I always get what I want one way or another."

He stood up and pulled her up by her arm. He was about a foot taller than her. Her ribs gave a sharp throb and she cried out.

"Oh, sorry," he said mockingly. "I forgot about your ribs."

He pushed her up against the wall and then she felt his mouth on hers. It wasn't like she hadn't experienced it before, but it felt the same every time. She tried to push him away but it didn't work. He was too strong. He pinned her hands above her head and moved closer, pulling his lips away from hers.

He didn't say anything, just ground his body against hers. She wanted to scream, she had to scream.

The Sabretooth suddenly pulled away. She doubled over with the pain in her ribs.

"You're strong and smart. Now off you go, back to getting Kitty a birthday present. I'll drop in from time to time."

Elska started to run.

"Oh one more thing! Don't tell anyone about this, if you do, I'll kill them. And if I were you, I'd stay away from Logan."

She stopped but didn't turn around to face him.

"Why?"

"Well, if you think I'm bad," his arms snaked around her waist from behind and he licked her neck, "then you should see what he used to do to the women a few years ago."

"He doesn't remember any of that!"

"He may not remember it, but the instinct – habit, you could say – is still there. Bye-bye, Ellie."

She felt his arms disappear and she wheeled around. There was no one there. She realised that she was crying. She quickly wiped the tears away and ran out of the alley, then into her car, not bothering to buy anything for Kitty.

She drove quickly: as quickly as the Chevy would allow. When she arrived back, she caught sight of Logan talking to Rogue. She couldn't tell them. And she had to stay away from Logan. He would know, then he would be killed. She left the Chevy in the garage and ran to her bedroom. And she cried.

**Skye: I'm not too happy with the ending to this chapter. But oh well, my time was limited.**


	6. Blooming Not Midnight Stroll As It Says

**Skye: Chapter six. This one should hopefully be better. I hope…I'm losing track of what I'm doing. . but never mind…as long as I stick to the plan of this story…everything will be OK…right? Also, I've decided to change the name of this story to Diamond in the Rough. In this chapter, we see the relationship between Logan and Elska bloom…but guess who comes in and messes it all up? Well, THAT will be revealed in the next chapter. XD**

**Chapter 6: Midnight Stroll**

It was cold outside, yet the sun was shining high a bright as the afternoon wore on. Elska was bored. She had decided to try and forget about Sabretooth but so far she wasn't having much luck. And the reason she was bored was because everyone was gone. Logan had disappeared off to somewhere called Alkali Lake, Rogue and Kitty were in classes meaning the rest of the kids were in classes too also meaning that all the teachers were teaching. Teachers…she had had to work hard to try and keep her thoughts blocked off from Jean and Professor Xavier, both of whom could tell that something was bothering her. But she wouldn't give in. She had managed a week without having to tell anyone, so she could manage the rest of her life too, couldn't she?

Because she had other people to think about, not just herself. And for the past few weeks, she had bonded so strongly with everyone. Rogue was her best friend, hands down. She could tell Rogue anything…well, almost anything. (She wasn't going to tell her about Sabretooth knowing that she would then tell Logan who would go nuts and also it would endanger her life). She knew a lot about Rogue and her life from all of her childhood memories and plans, her disastrous first kiss and her meeting Logan then the Magneto incident. There was also Kitty. Kitty was likeable but she wasn't the same as Rogue. Kitty liked popularity and boyfriends but Elska did not. And little Siryn. Elska loved the little girl and enjoyed her company. It seemed selfish, but playing with Siryn reminded her of her childhood with Láska. And she missed Láska terribly. Sometimes she felt that if she just reached high enough…or even looked around fast enough…or maybe even ran fast enough, she could get Láska back. But even if she could bring her little sister back, she wouldn't. The angels belonged with the angels. And it was Láska's decision to take her own life…and as long as it was what she wanted, Elska would be happier.

(Back to friends). She liked Jean…she really did. And Scott and Storm and her cousin John. And the professor had been like a father to her. Not HER father…but a proper father figure. And Logan…she couldn't even describe…he was a dark and dangerous man, she knew that. It was probably what attracted her to him. But he also had a soft, gentle side which he kept around her. She loved Logan…like, really loved him. She had never felt the feeling before…being in love. But that was just silly! He was like a hundred and God-knows how many years old and she was only nineteen! It wasn't possible…was it?

She shook her head out of her daydream and glanced down at what she had started to read. _Great Expectations. _What the hell was she doing, trying to read that? It was one of the single most boring books she had ever read and here she was about to read it AGAIN? What, was she on drugs or something?

She tossed the book down onto the little coffee table in the library and stood up. She had to find SOMETHING to do before she went insane with boredom. Going to bed sounded okay at that point…but it was the middle of the afternoon. She went up to her room anyway and pulled out a sketchpad. Grabbing some pencils, she headed back downstairs and out into the garden. It was cold but the sun was bright. She hugged herself as she trudged towards a large willow tree. She had already drawn the willow tree itself and she knew that there were birds living in it. So, sketchpad and pencils in one hand, she climbed the tree. It took her a little longer than it normally would have if she didn't have the sketchpad with her, but she eventually managed to get to one of the top branches. Several of the branches were quite close together so she sat on them, her feet splayed right out in front of her, and leaned against the tree trunk. It really was a large willow.

She looked at the birds nest opposite her. There was a fat brown bird sitting in a nest with three little chicks around her. The bird kept moving it's head to stare at her.

"Stay still, please," she asked it.

It tilted it's head slightly, blinked then sat motionless. She smiled. She had always guessed that her slight ability to communicate with animals had something to do with her mutation because (like her ability to morph into some sort of Hybrid form of a 'mythological' animal) it didn't always work.

She flipped open the sketchpad and drew roughly. Watching her hand dart around the paper, she saw that what she was drawing wasn't perfect, but it would have to do for Kitty's birthday….which was today! After about half an hour, she reached the last baby bird. But suddenly, the mother bird gave a high pitched shriek, picked up the nest with her feet and flew off. Elska sighed and began to close the book.

"Nice drawing."

Elska squeaked in fright. It was Sabretooth. She knew it was. She was going to die now!

"Relax, kid, it's only me!"

Elska glanced behind her. It was Logan. She quickly tried to hide her terror but he could probably hear her heart pounding away a mile a minute. And he had sounded so much like Sabretooth.

"I'm not a kid," Elska insisted, trying to distract his attention from her rapidly beating heart.

"Until you're twenty, you're a kid."

"Says who?"

"Says me."

Elska grinned a little.

"So…what are you doing up here in a tree?" she asked him.

"I heard you humming," he said, sitting down on a branch next to her.

"I was humming?" she asked, going red.

He laughed.

"What's the picture for?" he asked her.

"It's for Kitty's birthday."

"I thought you went into town to get her something," Logan said, brow slightly furrowed.

She quickly thought up something in her head and was inwardly relieved when it sounded convincing.

"There was nothing I thought she would have liked; all the clothes pre-owned."

Logan laughed. They both knew that Kitty would hate the thought of being bought pre-owned clothes…and she would probably know they were pre-owned instantly. It was like she had some sort of detector in her that could tell when something was cheap.

She looked into his eyes. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him. She wanted to tell him everything. But she couldn't…after all, she was just a kid to him. Just a stupid kid who happened to have some problems, who happened to trust him, who happened to love him.

No! She couldn't let herself think like that at all. Because there was no chance with him at all. After all, who would want someone like her anyway? She wasn't even a virgin, probably considered spoiled.

But then he surprised her by leaning forward. And it was almost instinctive; she leaned towards him. This kiss was different. Soft and gentle, not forced and hard. Not painful. She didn't want to pull away from this one. She could stay locked in it forever, never having to worry about anything. But then he pulled away. He was worried in case he was making her uncomfortable.

"I thought I was just a kid?" she asked.

"In that case, you're _my _kid," he said endearingly.

She smiled.

**Skye: Argh! What a lame ending to the chapter! Yes, it is a little boring but I swear deep down that the next chapter will be better! Action and all that crap? Hell yes!**


	7. Midnight Stroll

**Skye: Chapter Seven. This one IS called Midnight Stroll. Haha. Not revealing anything else. Although I'll say this. We're going for a more modern approach. Logan can remember a little bit more about his past with Victor Creed than in the movies.**

**To lazy: I will be coming to that some of it in this chapter, some in the future ones. Trust moi, it's all planned. And thanks. **

Kitty's birthday had been an eventful one. John's fireworks were interesting but not as good as Jubilee's. And Bobby's ice skating had turned out to be quite interesting, especially after both Elska and Rogue had had to drag Logan onto the makeshift ice rink and literally shove him forwards to make him move. And somebody had decided that including sweets would be a great idea which turned out to be a disaster after John lost his patience with the piñata and accidentally set it on fire. He received a detention for that.

The younger students we sent to bed at eight and the older students didn't trudge up the stairs until about midnight. Elska had already been in bed for the last two hours, but hadn't fallen asleep. She had been trying to change into something easy like a Harpy or the Sphinx or something but it still wasn't working, and she couldn't understand why.

She sat up when Rogue came in.

"Sorry, were we making too much noise?" she asked, seeing that Elska was still awake.

"No."

She explained to her about her powers and how worried she was that they weren't working.

Rogue was frowning.

"Maybe you should go see the professor," she said. "Something might be wrong."

Elska bit her lip.

"Yeah, I think I'll do that now."

The both left the room and whispered goodnights to Peter and Bobby and John and Kitty as they passed.

"What did you get Kitty?" Rogue asked.

"I just drew her a picture or a bird in a nest. Everything in town was cheap. She would have hated it."

"I know!" Rogue laughed. "I got her this silver necklace. As if she doesn't have enough already!"

Elska laughed, but inside, she felt pained. She didn't want to lie to Rogue but telling her the truth would only kick up a massive argument between herself and Logan which she'd rather avoid. She wasn't in any doubt that Rogue would not tell someone, but she knew that Rogue wouldn't be able to keep the mind blocks in her head to stop the professor and Jean finding out. And if they knew, they would tell Logan. Then Logan would go crazy because she hadn't told him.

Elska stopped at the top of the stairs. She could hear voices. One was the professor and the other was a gruff voice that sounded like Logan's. Only she knew it wasn't Logan's voice. It was _his _voice. Sabretooth.

She pulled Rogue back ad quietly as she could and sat down against the wall around the corner where he couldn't see them. They had been talking so loudly. Had he heard them?

"What-?"

Elska placed and finger over her own mouth to silence her. Adrenaline was pumping through her veins. She could feel fear in her heart. But she had to keep calm.

"You tell me what room she's in or I swear, I'll rip your throat out!" Sabretooth growled.

The professor remained silent, but Elska still heard his voice in her head.

_Go and find Logan. Now. Tell him it's his brother. Do NOT tell him he is after you. I'll want a full explanation when this is over._

Elska nodded mentally, hoping that the professor had caught it. She got to her feet slowly and Rogue followed her. She tried to walk quietly and quickly.

"Elska, what's going on?" Rogue whispered.

Elska didn't say anything. She had to find Logan. If the professor died because of her…

She rounded a corner. Sabretooth was Logan's brother…that explained what Sabretooth had said to her in the alley. That explained it clearly.

"Elska, what-?"

Elska slammed her hand over Rogue's mouth, only to snatch it away again when an electric feelings shot up her arm and the image of black water below, Logan falling at her feet, popped into her mind.

"What's going on with your powers?" Rogue asked.

"Sshh," she replied.

Elska opened Logan's bedroom door. He was dreaming, having a nightmare. But beneath the mumbles of "Weapon X" and "Stryker" Elska caught words like "Professor" and "Sabretooth". The professor must have been trying his hardest to reach Logan while he slept.

"Logan," Elska whispered, shaking his arm.

Logan's eyes flew open and he sat bolt upright. Both sets of claws shot from between his knuckles. She jumped a little. Logan raised a finger to his lips and stood up. The girls followed him out of the room.

"…and I'll kill each and every one of them if you don't talk, old man," Sabretooth's voice floated to her ears.

"Creed!" Logan said loudly.

Elska flinched, hoping that none of the younger kids woke up.

"Logan!" he said happily. "And little Ellie and…I forget your name."

Sabretooth shrugged at Rogue and dropped the professor to the floor where he grunted to sit up and turn around. Elska wanted to run towards him and help him up but fear kept her rooted to the spot. Sabretooth walked towards them slowly.

"What do you want here?" Logan demanded.

Sabretooth smiled and pulled a switch casually. The loud ringing of the fire alarm shook Elska's head roughly. She heard several screams from upstairs and heavy feet as the students started to run. Unfortunately they were met by someone they had all come to fear standing ever so casually at the bottom of the stairs, blocking their path. And Logan was grimacing, gritting his teeth and moaning. Elska was alarmed to see the whites of his eyes going red. She put a hand on his shoulder.

"Turn it off," he grunted to her.

Elska looked at Sabretooth.

"Turn it off!" she shouted as Logan fell to his knees. "Please!"

He held his arms open wide as if surrendering to something.

"Why don't you come and do it?" he asked.

Elska opened her mouth slightly, frowning. He was testing her. She took a hesitant step towards the stairs.

"Turn it off!" Logan screamed.

Without a second thought, she marched down the stairs and reached for the switch. Sabretooth pulled it down before the touched it. Her ears were filled with an odd ringing now that it was silent. She took a step back from Sabretooth but he raised his hand, nails growing swiftly, threatening her.

"Ah, ah, ah," he said silkily. "You stay right there."

She turned to look up and Logan and Rogue and all the students whose faces were now filled with worry and fear. She saw John's face, filled with rage, ready to kill. She shook her head at him.

She felt Sabretooth grab her shoulder and hold on tightly.

"I asked you why you were here!" Logan snarled, picking himself up.

"Oh, just checking in on Ellie," he said, shaking her a little.

She saw Logan look confused.

"What?"

Oh no. This was it. Her secret – which had taken so much emotional and mental strength to keep in – was going to spill out. And everyone was going to know.

"She didn't tell you?" Sabretooth asked in mock surprise.

"Say nothing!" Xavier yelled from the ground suddenly.

Elska glanced at him. There was blood dripping onto his shoe and sock from his leg and it looked oddly disfigured. She reached towards him and to her surprise, he released her. She knelt down at the professor's side and looked up at Sabretooth.

_I've just read his mind. I know what happened between you and him. I can't get him to stop!_

Elska glanced helplessly at the professor.

"Then again, I _did _tell her not to. She's been a good girl," he smiled.

Elska felt her skin crawl. Not only was he about to reveal her secret, he was humiliating her completely.

"Ellie here was out buying Kitty's present when I caught her. We had a nice little chat, didn't we?" he asked.

"Pfft, if that's what you wanna call it," she mumbled.

"So, it's like that is it?" Sabretooth asked, his tone changing. "I told her all about your past, Logan. All those women…"

Elska felt bad for him. Now it was his turn to be ridiculed.

"And then I felt like we were that little bit closer…so did she apparently. Didn't even pull away," he smiled nastily.

Several people gasped. Logan roared loudly and leapt down the stairs at him. Elska saw blood fly and spray her face but the wounds were instantly healing.

"Get those children out of here," Xavier grunted over his pain.

Elska didn't want to leave him but she could feel every fibre of his urgency and had the feeling that none of them wanted the younger children to witness the vicious fight that was going on behind her. She didn't really want to see it herself.

She jumped up and turned around, heading for the stairs when the professor's voice echoed in her head again: _Check behind your right ear._

She made a mental note to check there when the kids were safe.

"Come on kids," she said loudly to them, trying to ignore the clatters and squelches coming from Logan and Sabretooth.

Elska ushered their terrified faces down the corridor and out of sight, praying that Sabretooth would just die.

Logan couldn't help himself. Sabretooth was just asking for it. He was probably totally desperate to get Logan to fight with him. And he should have known better that to bite back and attack him. But Elska was _his. _And there was no way that Sabretooth was going to get away with that, whether he was telling the truth or not.

So Logan leapt for him. He could smell the fear of the children in the background as he slashed at Sabretooth and he clawed back. He saw blood spray Elska. Some was Logan's and some was Creed's. Either way, it was increasingly frustrating when the wounds were healing on his enemy. Although, he was glad that his own were healing…because the battle was feral, purely instinctual. He realised that. If someone had tried to intervene, even Rogue or Elska, Logan would probably kill them. It was the berserk rage that stopped him from thinking clearly. All he could see was red. And Sabretooth was going to pay.

Logan trust his claws towards Creed's chest only to have his arm grabbed and twisted around.

"You're unhappy, Jimmy. Maybe a little jealous. She did taste so sweet."

Logan growled and yanked his arm away, aiming for his chest again. This was going to end in bloodshed.

**Skye: DUN DUN DUN. Sorry, I felt that this chapter was getting too long so I stopped there. Will be continued after I receive reviews. ^^**


	8. If Gorgons And Blood

**Skye: Baddaboing!**

**Phoenix: Guess who's back?**

**Skye: I have no idea! Please, tell me.**

**Phoenix: It's Barack Obama!**

**Skye: Lame…nah, I'm kidding. I love that dude. **

Elska ran with the children. Colossus was leading the group and she was right behind him, running as fast as she could yet still trying to make sure the children weren't left behind. She only wanted to run, to be away from Sabretooth, that was all.

But Logan was down there, and so was the professor, and she couldn't quite remember where Storm, Jean and Scott had gone for the week.

She skidded to a halt, feeling friction burn from a rug attack her feet. John, Rogue and Bobby stopped a few feet in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Bobby asked.

"I'm going back for the professor!" she shouted, turning sharply.

"What are you, crazy?" John demanded. "You'll get yourself killed!"

He grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me!" she shouted, yanking her arm back.

John flew backwards with the force of it and she ran back down the corridor. At the top of the stairs, she stopped and glanced down. Logan and Sabretooth were so fiercely engaged in their fight, that they didn't even see her. She stumbled hurriedly and clumsily down the stairs and to the professor's side. She tried to ignore the slashing and squelching of God knows what internal organs were being ripped open behind her

"Professor, your leg," she said.

His face was white.

"It's broken."

Elska inwardly groaned. This was NOT going to be pretty.

She ripped his pants just under the knee right around. The bone was sticking out and upwards and blood was cascading down his leg. Elska shivered and ripped a hole in the piece of material she had in her hand. She tried her best to keep her touch gentle as she put the material around his leg with the bone poking through the hole she had made. She didn't even know if it would do any good but it was something she had seen her mother do when she was little...or at least this was what it had looked like.

She heard Logan and Sabretooth stop. Sabretooth took in a deep breath.

"Smell that, Jimmy?" he asked.

"My name is Logan."

He sounded strained. Elska chanced a fleeting look behind her. Logan's fists were in Sabretooth's hands and they were both pushing against each other, covered in blood. Some wounds were still healing.

"Can you smell it? The blood…"

Logan growled darkly. Sabretooth laughed and then, within seconds, Logan was lying on the ground, several feet from him and struggling to get up. He started slowly towards Elska, then, without warning, he lunged towards her. She shrieked and rolled to the side. He missed her completely but that didn't stop him from landing on the professor's leg. Xavier didn't scream, but simply fainted right on the spot. But just before he did, she heard a faint _Right ear…_ echo in her head.

She reached up and felt a little hard lump. Her nails found the underside of it and she pulled. There was no pain, but when she looked at it in her hand, everything made sense. The little gem was purple and glittering in the dim light. It was amethyst. It all made sense now! Why her powers hadn't been working, why she had been unable to touch Rogue without experiencing what everyone else experienced. She couldn't understand why she hadn't felt it before.

But there was no time for deep thought. She threw the little gem from her and it disappeared from sight. She stood up. Sabretooth was advancing on her. Even though she was slightly afraid, it was nothing compared to her earlier terror.

She didn't want to use her powers, she didn't want to. She had sworn to herself that she wouldn't turn into anything unless she really had to. Well, now was one of those times.

She closed her eyes and imagined it. She imagined it's body, slimy and ugly, it's huge serpents eyes and snake hair. She didn't want to have to use this one again, but she had to.

When she opened her eyes, her hands were gnarled and greenish, steely talons on the ends of her fingers. Medusa, a comical character to some, not to Sabretooth though.

She stared at him in the eye. She knew that he wasn't about to turn to stone, but he stopped in his tracks, frozen, rooted to the spot.

"Get out," she said dangerously, feeling the forked black tongue caress the inside of her mouth. "Get out!"

The many snakes which now made up her hair hissed angrily. She felt the fangs in her mouth grow slightly longer. Her body was unwillingly warning him now. No! She couldn't lose control, she had to stay in control.

"I said leave!" she shouted, startling even herself.

Sabretooth seemed to regain control over his body.

"I'll be back," he said.

Then he turned and ran, not as if he was scared (which he was) but just as if he was running towards something. She imagined her own body, thin and fragile, her hair slightly messy as it had been before she changed.

Then she felt it all. It had hurt to turn into the thing, but it hurt even more to turn back. Every pore of her existence burned, but she wouldn't cry out. She closed her eyes and dropped down to her knees, then it was over. But the migraine that followed all of her transformations was painful too, and nothing that painkillers could cure.

She jumped a little when she felt Logan pull her up. He put his arm around her and she sighed into his chest. She felt so tired. All she wanted to do was sleep.

"You should sleep," Logan said. "But when you wake up, you're gonna have to tell me exactly what he was talking about. And I don't want any lies or excuses."

"Me too," Rogue said, coming down the stairs.

Elska didn't argue. She looked down at the professor and had no idea what to do. That was until Jean, Scott and Storm walked through the door into the carnage.

"I got the professors psychic calls. What happened?" she asked.

She didn't want to explain now. She would explain later and meanwhile, Jean would take care of the professor.

**Phoenix: I applaud you Skye. I'm liking this story. Although it's not a very original plot is it?**

**Skye: You're supposed to be my friend!**

**Phoenix: A good friend buys you dinner and a best friend eats yours *says wisely***

**Skye: What the hell does that have to do with anything?**

**Phoenix: Review for her please? LOL.**


	9. Apple and Strawberries

**Skye: Just a quick review from the last chapter; we've seen a stronger side to Elska but we also noticed another side that threatens to control her. Nah, only joking, that part of the story won't be relevant until the-**

**Phoenix: Bursts in abruptly, WE DON'T NEED TO GIVE IT ALL AWAY! That'll spoil it!**

**Skye: Aye, whatevs.**

**Phoenix: Isn't that a Scottish word?**

**Skye: Yeah, so?**

**Phoenix: ¬_¬ weirdo…**

**Skye: You realise that you're typing everything and I can see it? And we won't be deleting it…we never erase what we say.**

**Phoenix: That's why our stories are fraught with spelling mistakes. XD. Even Microsoft Word doesn't know what we mean!**

Elska tossed and turned all night. The hundred or so times that she woke up, Rogue had told her that it was normal to have nightmares after something like that had happened. But whatever Rogue said, it didn't make the nightmares stop. And not only did she keep seeing his face when she closed her eyes, she was going to have to explain to Logan later. She could make her excuses but he knew that something was up now and hiding from it would only make it worse…and probably make Logan angrier.

After promising her she could sleep, she heard him down in the lower levels shouting at the professor, demanding to know what had happened. But the professor hadn't told anyone. She was grateful.

Even when she woke up at six in the morning – still having a few more hours to sleep – she couldn't find a reason. Nor could she find the reason why she felt so depressed. She got out of the bed as quietly as she could, not wanting to disturb Rogue. Feeling foolish for even having the though, she pulled on a thin jumper and a pair of slippers and crept downstairs. She wanted to watch the sun come up and the sky was already an orange colour. Once outside, she sat on her favourite bench at the side of the mansion. From where she was sitting, she could see the sun rising from above the trees and in the corner of her eye she could see the giant willow tree where she and Logan had shared that special moment.

Even though her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, the wisps of her fringe and hair from the back were being caressed by the cool air, fluttering innocently. She could not understand why she was crying, why these tears were sliding down her face. She could not understand why it was her life that had to be so Goddamn shit!

_Why is it always me? _she screamed internally.

Suddenly, a whiff of cigar smoke shot up her nostrils as she took a deep breath to calm herself. Damn. Logan was standing just around the corner watching her.

"How long have you been standing there?" she asked.

"I followed you," he said.

She wanted to scream: "That doesn't answer my question!" but in reality it did. And shouting would be taking out her frustrations and anger on him, when all he had done was try to help her from the start. So why was she feeling so angry at him. Did she think it was his fault because Sabretooth was his brother?

He lumbered over and sat down beside her. His every movement made her scream inside. She hated him. She wanted to turn around and hit him. She wanted to run from him and scream until her lungs exploded. Yet she couldn't understand why.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked.

"Why is it any of your business?" she shouted back at him.

He didn't react.

"Oh, Logan," she turned her body to face him. "I'm so confused. I don't understand why I'm having these feelings. I feel so angry and depressed and alone! I hate Sabretooth! I just want him to die! And I'm angry at all of you! All you guys did was try to help and I kept pushing myself away! And I miss Láska so much! If she was here, she'd know what to say! She always did and she was only eleven! God, why do I feel like this!"

He didn't say anything again, but studied her face, his expression contorted. Again, she couldn't understand. How had Láska managed to get into this? She just didn't understand.

"Ellie," he put his hand on her leg.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled, throwing his hand off.

He looked hurt only briefly.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Wanna go for a walk?" he asked her.

She nodded, biting her lip in an attempt to hold back more tears. She stood up in time with him and he put his arm around her. They walked around the mansion in circles and other shapes that probably didn't even exist and talked about things. They talked about Elska and Láska and Elska's mother. They talked about the little snippets of his past that Logan could remember. They talked about Star Wars and how Logan would rather die than have to walk past another kid watching Star Wars on TV and enjoying it. They talked about Elska's father and brothers and her forced miscarriage. They talked about how they had first met. Then they hugged for a long time, soft kisses in between each murmur of 'I love you'. They did not talk about Elska and Sabretooth's meeting.

However, soon the children were awake and running around the playground like…well, schoolchildren. Elska watched them in earnest. She longed to be younger. Everything was OK with Láska there and her mother.

_Well, it's still OK. You've got Logan and Rogue and all the other X-Men._ A small voice told her. It was true. She turned to look up at Logan.

"I'm going inside. I need to have a shower," she said.

"Use mine; Rogue's in yours," he said.

"You can hear her from all the way down here?" Elska asked, surprised.

Logan laughed. "Yes, but the steam coming out of the open window up there gave it away too."

Elska's face went a little pink.

000000000000

Arm still tightly around Elska, Logan walked around the building to the front doors, his head circulating around all the things they had just discussed. About Elska's miscarriage. Her father had ordered her to bet an abortion. But she had wanted to keep the baby so badly. She was going to name it Láska if it was a girl. After months of refusing any form of abortion or adoption for the baby, her oldest brother had had enough. He had pulled her out of bed in the middle of the night and elbowed her repeatedly in her swollen stomach until blood had begun to pour down her leg. At fifteen years old and only five months pregnant, her baby had been brutally taken from her by her own flesh and blood. And although Logan wasn't big on kids and babies, he could not imagine the emotional and mental pain she must have felt.

Once upstairs in his room, he pointed out the towels to her and the more feminine shampoos that he had never bothered to remove, then sat down on his bed, gulping some forbidden beer and chewing on the end of his cigar. The shower stopped within fifteen minutes then she was sitting on his bed next to him. The short towel barely covered her thighs as she sat down and he had to resist grabbing her and taking her there and then.

Her dark hair was straggly and wet and beads of water slid down her neck and shoulders. She smelled of apple and strawberries. He knew that it was her favourite fragrance.

Then he saw the scar on her wrist from when he had first met her and was pleased to see that there were no new ones. But the image of his brother popped into his head. He had almost forgotten about it.

"You gonna tell me about Sabretooth now?" he asked.

It was almost as if she had been ready for the heavy feeling which immediately descended into the room.

"Logan…I will tell you. But you have to understand that it's hard for me to talk about."

He nodded, afraid of what he might hear. If Sabretooth had hurt her…or raped her, he didn't know what he would do.

00000000000000000000

Elska was very scared to explain things to Logan. Scared of what his reaction might have been. But in truth, by the end of it he seemed a little relieved, as if he was expecting something much worse.

He put his arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head. She pulled the towel down her leg a little more before responding and putting her arms around his torso. Her hair, although still damp, was drying now and she had the feeling that if she didn't brush it soon, she would be forever trying to untangle it.

She left Logan to go back into her room. She pulled on a pair of dark boot cut jeans and a SpongeBob t-shirt. She blow dried her hair and let it hang loosely by her shoulders. Her slightly side swept fringe, which didn't make sense because she still had a middle kinda side parting, was longer compared to the last time she had looked at her own face in the mirror.

Elska was unpleasantly surprised when she got downstairs to discover a band of mutants in the entrance hall with Logan and Storm standing in front of them, ready for fighting.

**Skye: This chapter did feel like it was dragging on a bit. I promise some more action, probably in the bedroom (XD), in the next chapter.**

**Phoenix: And I know who the band of mutants are. XD.**

**Skye: Please review.**


	10. Don't Keep Me Waiting x

**Phoenix: Take THAT! Society is a penguin filled cheese burger.**

**Skye: We're feeling rebellious. Prepare for some sexy time. XD. All you Borat fans know what I mean. ;) You'll notice that there are still some secrets that Elska is keeping from everyone. We also apologize for the agonising wait. **

Elska's attention was instantly drawn to the woman who was blue with red hair and yellow eyes. The blue woman stared up at her. So did the man wearing the cape. The other two, who looked like perfectly regular people kept their gaze on Logan and Storm. She recognised the one wearing the cape from when she was sixteen. Her youngest brother had been talking to him behind the house once about Elska's mutation. She had briefly spoken to him about it and after promising to come back for her, he had left. Only he hadn't come back from her. He had left her there.

"You," Elska said.

Logan and Storm looked up at her.

"My dear," Magneto held out his hand to beckon her down. "We come only to talk with you and Charles."

Elska hopped down the stairs quickly and pushed Logan's hands down by his sides to prevent his claws poking someone's eye out.

"About what?" she asked, malice in her voice. She sensed Logan stiffen beside her. She never had malice in her voice. "If this is about the whole 'I'll come back for you thing' you can forget it."

"It isn't," he said.

Elska studied him.

Two arguments and Logan almost beheading Mystique later, they were down in the infirmary with Xavier, Magneto, Logan, Storm and Mystique. They were sitting on plastic chairs around Xavier's bed. Elska quickly discovered that Xavier could not read Magneto's mind whilst her was wearing his helmet although she couldn't remember how she found it out.

"We come bearing bad news, I'm afraid, Charles," Magneto said. "We wanted Hybrid-"

"Elska," she said.

"-Elska to join the brotherhood. We sent Sabretooth to talk to her about it, but unfortunately he did not do as I asked. Instead he attacked her and he left us this message."

Magneto pulled out a tape recorder and set it down at Xavier's foot.

"I must warn you, it isn't the most pleasant of recordings," Magneto said before pressing the little green button.

"I'm leaving this message as a good bye note, Eric. Everyone can see that the Brotherhood is going downhill and I'm not gonna be around to see that happen. As for Ellie…there's no way you're getting her on your side. And I know that you've taken this to her, so this is for you Elska: you may not want to join the brotherhood, but you _will _be mine…perhaps with the right incentive. If you go into Pyro's room now, you will find a note on his bed giving you further instructions. And Ellie…"

Elska listened, her every breath ringing loudly in her ear, her heart pounding in her head.

"…don't keep me waiting. We wouldn't want anything to happen to your dear cousin, would we?"

Elska was half prepared to bet that he didn't even have John but was horrified to hear John's strained voice in the recording mumbling "No, Ellie…stay away…he's…" she never caught the rest of it as a loud roar from the tape made everyone jump.

"That is where the recording ends," Magneto said. "You may be thinking that this is a plot to get you on my side, Elska but I can assure you, never would I dream of playing a trick on you to this level and certainly I would never wish to hurt you."

"You didn't care the last time, though, did you? When you left me there, alone."

Elska was staring at the ground. She had talked in monotone, just in case her temper decided to flare up against him for no apparent reason.

"I think we all know what the letter might say," said Storm. "But we should still go up and check."

Elska stood up at once. So did Logan.

"I'll come with you."

Elska couldn't find it in herself to protest so she allowed Logan to accompany her. Neither of them said anything. If she had just told him sooner, maybe he could have prevented this, could have perhaps killed Sabretooth. Or maybe Magneto should never had tried to get her on his side. Granted, Sabretooth would have probably found her anyway under some strange and a million to one circumstance.

There was indeed a not on John's pillow. Logan stood, alert, at the door as she picked up the note and read it.

_The warehouse behind the train station, 11:30 PM. Don't keep me waiting x._

The extra little kiss at the end made her want to rip the letter in two, but she restrained herself. She handed the letter to Logan and checked the time on John's bedside table. It was only ten past nine in the morning. They had plenty of time to work on a plan.

"You're not going," Logan said, pocketing the note.

"That's not for you to decide," she protested.

"Don't tell me what's for me to decide and what's not!" he said, raising his voice a little. "I'm a hundred years older than you!"

"That doesn't mean you can tell me what to do."

Logan seemed to think for a minute and swallowed his retort.

"Let's just see what Xavier thinks," Elska said, pushing past him.

He moved with her so that he could walk beside her. She took a deep breath which might have been mistaken for a sigh. She knew it was dangerous to argue with Logan but Sabretooth kidnapping John was dangerous even more so. She didn't doubt that the professor would have a plan but she knew there would be a massive risk involved and she was afraid that someone other than herself might get hurt.

Logan obviously sensed this and put his arm around her. He squeezed her shoulders momentarily then let go. They sat down around Xavier's bed again. Logan gave him the note. He read it quickly the passed it to Magneto. Elska noticed that his helmet was now off.

"Logan, I want you to trace John's scent, find out if he really is at this warehouse with Sabretooth," Xavier said. "But wait here until we have a rough idea of what we're doing."

He stared at Magneto for a few seconds as Mystique read the note which was handed to her by Storm.

"Mystique?" Magneto said, staring at her.

The blue woman stood up and concentrated on Elska for a moment then she started to shrink, her hair lengthened and turned dark brown, her eyes became softer and turned an olive-green colour. Her skin turned pale with flushed cheeks and before she knew it, Elska seemed to be staring at herself.

"I won't need to use your powers so I won't be needing to see them in action," she said. Elska was startled to hear her own voice talking to her.

"This isn't gonna work," Logan said.

"The longer you continue to be pessimistic, the less time Pyro may have," Magneto said, "and the more danger this school may be in."

"I can still smell that it's her. Victor knows her scent. You send her in there in a disguise, she'll be ripped apart by him and you know she will," Logan said. "He's too fast for her."

Mystique glared at him.

"He's right," Xavier said.

Mystique turned back into herself and sat down again.

"It doesn't matter how much time we have, we must come up with a plan," Storm said.

**Skye: :O I hate myself for ending the chapter there. Once again, we apologize for that wait.**

**Phoenix: But maybe we would update if you reviewed? Even just to tell us what bit of the chapter was your favourite. **


	11. Preparations

**Skye: Today is the day I shall always remember as…**

**Phoenix: And we will continue this little saying in the next chapter XD. So haha. And it was ever so odd to write the sparring match, just so you know…**

There was much debating…heated debating which only really turned into arguments after Logan had been practically ordered but Xavier to go and track John. Of course, he had refused, but Magneto had him out of the building within seconds. Elska was impressed.

With an irrational Logan out of the building, they could plan something out without the annoying interruptions.

It took them a long time to make the final plan. Elska would go into the building alone and have Logan, Scott, Jean, Storm, Colossus, Magneto and Mystique patrolling the areas outside. The professor was doing his utmost best to telecommunicate with Logan. From what they could tell, John and Sabretooth were definitely in the building and John was badly injured. This was only a minor setback but they still didn't know how Elska was going to get OUT unharmed. Elska herself knew that she was going to have to transform, but into what, she didn't know.

Once Logan found out about this plan, he was furious and did throw a rather good punch at Magneto for suggesting it. He then had his hand broken by Magneto. Elska couldn't help but laugh when she saw Logan's face once he had realised that he couldn't even punch Magneto.

But after all the planning was done, every safety precaution thought about, it was time for Elska to train; according to Mystique, if Elska was to end up fighting Sabretooth, she was no where near ready. So within ten minutes, she was down in the danger room with Logan, being taught how to fight Sabretooth. Great.

"The thing you have to remember is that he's instinctual. He will fight like an animal and he'll expect you to run. You'll have noticed by now that he fights a lot like me. Can you see where I'm going with this?" Logan asked.

"A sparring match?" Elska asked.

Logan smiled and Elska's heart skipped a beat, butterflies in her stomach. It was a new smile, a different kind of smile and she liked it…a lot.

"Now all you have to do, is focus. Go with your instincts."

"I don't have any instincts," Elska said, remembering the Disney film, The Sword in the Stone.

Just then Logan lunged at her. She jumped to the side in a blind panic and collided with the wall. She bounced off the floor once and pulled herself back up, pursing her lips: Logan was laughing loudly and from the looks of it, so was Colossus; she could see him up through the thick glass where everyone stood watching her.

"That might have worked, but just remember to take in what's around you when you go in there," Logan said.

"Can I have a dagger?" Elska said suddenly.

Logan looked at her quizzically then looked up to where everyone was standing and nodded. The professor started typing something into the computer and then something unfolded from the wall. Logan picked it up and placed it in her hands. She looked down at it. The blade was probably about nine of ten centimetres long and looked very sharp.

"Right, we'll start off without my claws…just to see how you do," Logan said, returning to full seriousness.

Elska felt ready this time. So when he lunged, she saw that he was aiming for her legs to trip her over. She waited, then jumped over him, pushing herself off his back to gain leverage. She felt him twist under her. She wobbled and felt his arms wrap around her ankles.

Then she found her instincts. She twisted her upper body and slashed his arm…hard. Logan shouted out and let her go. She still crashed to the ground, but so did Logan.

"Oh, God, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-"

Logan jumped up suddenly and pinned her to the ground as she was trying to get up. He held up his arm. The cut was sealing itself and disappearing.

"Don't forget, he can do that too. You're doing good. Don't hold back."

Elska smiled internally. _Fair enough. _

Her feet found his stomach and she pushed upwards. It didn't have quite the grand effect she expected, probably because Logan was A LOT heavier than she was, but he still fell. Elska jumped to her feet and spun around just in time to see him raise his fist for a punch. She ducked and smiled. This was getting easier.

It was probably about three hours later the Elska has mastered how to fight in general, but they decided that it was time to call it quits when she had fallen over, exhausted. She was up in Logan's bedroom, sitting on his bed with her legs crossed. Logan was sitting in a chair next to the window, swigging beer. She rolled her eyes.

"I saw that," he said.

She shrugged and took a deep breath.

"Something wrong?"

"I'm just a little nervous."

Logan said nothing, but after a few minutes he put the beer bottle down and came over to her, the bed sagging as he sat on it. He put his hand on her left cheek and turned her head around to face him. He was staring intensely yet softly into her eyes. They simultaneously leaned towards each other. Their lips met. Then it was more intense. It was fierce. And for the first time in her life, Elska was responding to it. She wanted it too. She wasn't afraid.

Her tongue danced with his. He was pushing her back. He was on top of her. She kissed him and attempted to pull her clothes off at the same time. He helped her. He pulled her jeans off and before long, they were both moaning in pleasure.

Elska pulled her jeans back on and lay back down on the bed beside Logan. She laughed.

"What?" he asked.

"People are gonna ask questions…'How can you two do that at a time like this?'"

Logan smirked and put his arm around her. She glanced at his digital alarm clock. It was four thirty. They would have to be getting up to go down for dinner soon.

"I hope John's OK," she whispered.

Logan didn't answer her and she knew why. John probably was not okay because even if Sabretooth had him, he could be injured or even dead.

"I don't understand why you're doing this," Logan said.

"Doing what?"

"This!" Logan said impatiently. "Going to meet him. You're risking so much, and for what? Someone you don't even know that well."

Logan had sat up. So had Elska.

"This isn't just about him though, think about what would happen to the school if I don't go."

"Even if you get John out of there and everything turns out fine, he's not gonna rest."

"So I'll kill him," she said, her voice shaking on the word 'kill'. "I'll transform into something when I'm there."

"And if it doesn't work?"

Elska didn't answer him. Her future looked bleak.

**Skye: You see what I meant now? YAY! Logan and Elska FINALY had sex! But this IS a T-Rated fic so we can't go into too much detail.**

**Phoenix: Yes, and can I just say that I HATE the end to this chapter? The next one will be better and if it's not, I'll write it.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


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